In life, when the baggage gets too heavy, you have to put it down.
People want to see the car crash instead of the race. But, when you're the one in the car that's crashing, it's not much fun. I'm enjoying the race.
Sometimes [people] say the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. In my case, I am pretty fortunate. [ My kids]'re pretty balanced, cool kids, going through pretty much the same thing all the other kids go through. There's nothing unique about me as a parent. I am a parent. My kids are kids. We do the best we can do. I don't think they know a lot about what I do, other than that I am in this crazy band, Mötley Crüe.
Ego is the great enemy. Ego will hold you back every single time.
Love those who hurt you the most, because they are probably the ones closest to you. They, too, are on a path, and just like you they are learning to walk before they can fly. Imagine of everybody you hurt in life turned their backs on you? You would be playing a hell of a lot of solitaire. Love them no matter what.
Every day, I wake up, and the first thing I think of is my kids.
The more confident you are, the more you can let go and believe that the people you've chosen to be in your circle are able to do what they say they're going to do and what they're really good at. It has made me a better band member, too.
It's about what happens on stage, whether we can deliver it in a hungry way that is who we are in our hearts.
Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue in New Orleans on Mardi Gras = bad idea!
I forgive my mom for being a psycho and my dad for being a loser.
People say I have a distorted lens. I think I see things as they really are.
Live in the moment. Moments make history.
I had to find the courage to turn my life around.
The industry is a menace to artists.
If you don’t deal with your demons, they will deal with you, and it’s gonna hurt.
I sort of have a dark, twisted, offbeat way of writing, which I see coming up in my kids. It's funny, on Halloween, one of my daughters said, "Halloween isn't supposed to be happy, dad, it's supposed to be dark. " No smiling pumpkins at the Sixx household!
For me, I never knew what addiction was. I just knew my heroes, like [New York Dolls guitarist] Johnny Thunders, did heroin. I didn't have a father, it looked good to me. If I had read Johnny Thunders' book The Heroin Diaries, I don't think I would have done heroin.
I have always believed that if you are honest in what you do, continually reinvent yourself at the same time, and there's respect amongst your band members, then you will be respected.
Which side of the blade is sharper? The lie or the truth? It all seems irrelevant when your jugular is sliced open and you’re lying in a pool of blood for the whole world to see.
There is something about spending Christmas alone, naked, sitting by the Christmas tree gripping a shotgun, that lets you know your life is spinning dangerously outta control.
When I photograph someone, I want to shoot the subject and get them out of my studio so I can play with the photos and do all the stuff I want.
Perfection is unattainable, so I like to live in imperfection.
In my own life I like to be poised and have a positive outlook on life, and I'm leading by example to my children and people around me.
When I'm onstage, I hope it looks like what I want to see - the lights, the pyro, the band.
When I know too much I get bored too fast.
Your shallow men shall dream, dreams, your insightful men shall see visions.
I've got so many mountains to climb and goals to conquer. I've got so many scars I want to leave on the planet. I just feel like I'm not there yet. I feel like I am just getting started.
I feel my spot is somewhere between a bass player and a rhythm guitar player. I play with a pick. I play very aggressively. I always have a distortion pedal in line, and I play less melodies and do more stuff against the guitars that create melodies.
The more I go onstage, the more quiet I am before, because I intend to go onstage and slaughter.
When you've tasted excess, everything else tastes bland.
Just let it happen and, I promise you, all that is magic will appear.
I've got five kids and I'm married, Tommy's got two kids and he's been married, Vince just got married again, Mick's out of a relationship, Tommy's single as well. We've done a lot in our life, we've covered a lot of miles.
You might as well learn about sex from Motley Crue than your parents because it's a lot more interesting.
There's a pattern when tours start - a pattern of infighting, of making up, of breaking up, of addiction. There's a pattern of going to jail. There's a pattern of passion for music.
If your album sells, that's cool, more people find out about you, more people get turned on to what we're really about-which is a live rock and roll band.
When I first started seeing (the show) come together, I was blown away. It is unbelievable. And to see Vince singing, and behind him girls hanging by chains, and Harleys on the stage and the pyrotechnics going it's like, this is what I want to see in rock 'n' roll.
I don't like to write music by myself anymore. It's boring. I want the jamming, the push and pull, and the excitement that comes with it.
We have a growing new fan base, and we wanted to get out now, and play now, and the timing was right.
I think anything thats creative really takes my mind off whatever it is that Im going through in my life. If youre going through heartbreak, and you can write a song, its a wonderful win-win, because it takes your mind off the heartbreak, and you get to vent.
Rock and Roll's got to be like Jack Daniels. You've got to feel it burn.
I have a lot of friends who come from alcoholic families, and they aren't alcoholics, because someone explained it to them. When I was in Washington DC, they really talked about the difference statistically between families that talk about drug addiction and ones that don't. The kids that can say "I see where this is going" have a much better chance of not becoming addicts, because they have been educated.
At birth we are very much like a new hard drive - no viruses, no bad information, no crap that's been downloaded into it yet. It's what we feed into that hard drive that starts the corruption of the files.
Formats are going to change because this is what the people want. It's not what the labels want.
Artists are very young, and say, Um, ok, to these industry dudes.
I can't make anybody happy, so I try my best to be good at what I do
I keep interested and I keep my eyes wide open...I try to read as much as possible...try to go to places that are off the beaten path...and I love to listen in on other peoples conversations...all the things that are floating around out there and I regurgitate it with my perspective...lyrically and musically.
Life is like a long ride to nowhere in particular.
If you actually dissect the lyrics in 'Motley Crue', you'll notice that there's a lot going on beneath the surface.
In the end, the whole Internet thing kills me, because you can use it as a positive thing or you can read into all the negativity. And I think youve gotta put out positive energy, put out cool viral stuff, and then just stay out of peoples opinions.
I feel you see every crack and bruise with black and white [pictiures] and color distracts usually from the honesty.
UNUSED LYRIC I’ve never been to Eden But it’s nice I hear tell When I die I’ll go to heaven ’Cause I’ve done my time in hell
I look back at things I said when I was younger - it was bulls - t. You do what you have to do to go where you have to go, but I look back and I don't believe what that guy was saying.
When I'm onstage, I'm more in the audience in my head than I am on the stage.
I just think if I can go from being a homeless kid with a dream of being in the biggest band in the world and making that happen, I can do a lot of other cool stuff, too.
What's exciting about being an artist, still, and what I'm really finding is awesome is that you can do it until you drop. I don't care how many lines I have on my face - I'll keep doing it!
The Stones are not the kind of band that want to get in the details. That's why they have a producer and engineer - to pull the magic out of them and make them sound so great.
I'm able to make decisions even in the face of adversity.
A song has to be hummable and memorable at it simplest form, and that's what bass does for me. I feel like the glue to everything.
Life can be cruel. It´s been my struggle, my personal battle, my obsession to make people see that different isn´t always bad.
I love Starbucks. Maybe thats a bit sad. But I definitely need my caffeine. Its what gets me out of bed in the morning.
Anybody I'm in a band with can do what they do better than me. I'm a huge believer that I can play bass or whatever I bring to the table - producing, songwriting, orchestrating - and I can look at the other guys and say, "He's got that, he's got this, and I have this." It's a team thing.
There's nothing unique about me as a parent. I am a parent. My kids are kids. We do the best we can do.
Motley Crue, collectively and individually, have done things on our own terms.
It's human nature to want to keep going, but you have to fight against the "I'm just gonna keep doing it" when you know the possibility of not looking great on the way out.
You grow, learn, and the more I can sit in silence and be comfortable with myself, the more I can make noise, as ironic and Zen Buddhist and satanic as it sounds!
We get paid in flesh. Our audiences are sluts and whores, each and every one.
It's time for new bands to step up because KISS and Mtley Cre, Aerosmith, The [Rolling] Stones... we're not always gonna be here. Who's gonna replace us? There's no one out there. It's sad.
What's worse? Being strung out or being fat?
I've got my fingers in many pies and I'm very excited about creating stuff and watching it blossom and bloom and harvest it and get on with the next thing.
We want to keep extending our brand into different places, into movies and soundtracks and our music will live on through licensing and our brand lives on through merchandise and new generations will get to wear our clothing and our T-shirts and stuff that's associated with us.
I used to think the only way to be truly alive is to confront your mortality.
What's the best angle to cut someone's throat? Well, usually from behind. That's usually how it works.
I remember opening up my first vinyl and seeing the incredible artwork it had. There's nothing like it. You also get that true gritty sound on vinyl that really makes a rock record sound great, which CDs can never achieve.
There's really only one true path to recovery that's using the 12 step program and finding a belief in something greater than yourself (spirituality).
I am the outcast come home to roost and the eggs of tomorrow are incubating in my fame. You hate me, you love me, you made me, and now I am in you. I am like that disease brewing in your loins and I think you like it.
Creativity is not linear, just like the earth is not flat....If you keep going long enough you will always get back to where you started from. That is when you have lived a full life. That is the artist's path.
I'm finding that people reading the book [The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star] are saying, "You came from one background, I came from this background - you were a rock star, I was a CEO. I didn't have a heroin/coke problem, but I had a pill problem. But I also fell from grace, didn't know how to get recovery, and I am now in recovery." People tell me that their kids read it and told them they'll never do drugs - "This book really shows me where it goes."
It says that alcoholism is a disease, and that it gets passed on from generation to generation. I've told my kids about that: "You've got the crazy gene in you, guys. When it comes time to kick back with the buddies, drink a beer, and watch a football game, just realize that there will be a day when that thing turns on you. So you better keep an eye on it".
Addiction - When you can give up something any time, as long as it's next Tuesday.
Some girl asked me for an autograph and I asked her why, she said because she admires me. I said she should see a shrink. Then she started crying and I started laughing.
Personal chemistry forges the way for musical chemistry.
President George Washington used to wear a wig and make-up. I mean, c'mon, if he could do it, I can do it.
Photography is an individual passion of mine. I don't get paid to do it, although people offer me money. I do it because I love it, and if there's no money attached, I don't have to do anything. It's my weekend away, my vacation, whether it's an hour or five hours or editing photos on my laptop in the middle of the night. It gives me relief from all the other stuff.
I am inspired by thinkers. I am inspired by rebellion. I am inspired by children. I have been inspired by love. I have been inspired by heartbreak. I try to take everything that comes at me in life. There have been times in my life that I didn't handle things... right. But even though you stumble, you still kind of get through it.
Darkness can be funny. It can be quirky. There are different ways that that stuff comes out as a creative person. But the actual conflicted, twisted, decaying, rotting soul? That's not me. No more.
The trouble with asking questions is you sometimes get answers you don't wanna hear.
Everybody needs some real rock in their lives...whether it's bands like ourselves, Aerosmith or Stones...or new bands like Five Finger Death Punch, Avenged Sevenfold...it's out there.
There is nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home. When you've lost it all, that's when you finally realize that life is beautiful.
Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it.
I was so happy every morning when I woke up that I was pissing smiley faces.
My favorite moments are when the bass falls in the pocket with the drums, the guitar is on top just slicing it, and the melody is scraping across like a sidewinder shattering through the monitor. It's just, ahhh, I love it! That's the jones, the hit, the buzz right there. It gets me off.
Don't waste your death on a half assed life
I am not a preacher. I don't want to stand on a soapbox and tell people, "Don't drink. Don't use drugs." With my kids, I say "Don't drink. Don't do drugs." But when they turn 21, they can drink. I hope they never use drugs, but people make their own decisions. When they're old enough, they are going to have the chance to make their own decisions. I just hope I have given them enough love and support, and the ability to come and talk to me if they need to.
If you were on the phone with me and Tommy right now, we would probably forget you were there, we'd just be cracking jokes. It's like Beavis and Butthead.
I don't want to jump through hoops for people.
My main camera is a Nikon D3. I use a French camera from the 1800s for wet plate photography, I use a Hasselblad sometimes. But to me the camera really doesn't matter that much. I don't have a preference for film or digital.
If I could make a record in two minutes and thirty seconds, I'd do it. I want the creativity, and I don't give a f - k about the snare sound.
Sometimes I think I should just buy a blow-up party doll. Same level of intelligence, plastic, and full of air. The problem is, I'd probably fall in love.
How lucky can one guy get? I was a runaway, and then I was in one of the biggest bands in the world. I've sold out every arena. I've sold millions and millions of records.
I'll play anyone in Uno and crush them.
You want to love unconditionally everything you do, or don't do it.
It's physically very, very, very trying to be onstage as a performer, not unlike an athlete, for thirty years.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying says that death is the graduation ceremony, while living is just a long course in learning and preparing for the next journey. If we acknowledge death as the beginning, then how can we fear it?
Friends tell each other what nobody else is willing to tell you.
We were telling everybody we weren't getting back together when we were in the studio actually recording. We wanted to try it on, to see how it would fit.
Some cats, Iggy Pop, they're going to always have that hunger.
A lot can happen [because of the dysfunctional family]. People don't look at that. They think, "Oh, my kids are going to be fine. My kids are resilient." But at a certain point, the damage starts. They start to feel pain - and when they feel bad, they start to take painkillers. We want to kill the pain.
Its just kind of known in the music industry that a farewell tour means for now.
When you can't climb your way out of such a hole, you tend to crouch down and call it home.
I love a little distortion across the bass; I think it kind of adds something to the sound of the band when the bass is a little overdriven.
When You've lost it all....thats when you realize that Life is Beautiful.
Overconfidence comes from fear and doubt, and you boast an ego when you're feeling less than.
Who's the new Ramones, who's the new Guns 'N Roses, who's the new Motley Crue, who's the new Black Sabbath? They're coming, they're on the street, they're 16, 17 years old.
I harbored a lot of resentment as a teenager and as a young adult. I still have a problem with authority, I'm trying to listen!
I don't fear death; I welcome it with open arms and a smirk. But until that wondrous day, I will continue to savor and celebrate all those who have graduated before me.
Hi. It's Nikki. I'm not here right now because I'm dead.
Raw and honest is what I go for [in my style of shooting]. I am looking for your inner beauty. The outside tells a story... But together is raw honesty.
There's nothin like a trail of ßlooÐ to finÐ your way ßack home
Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love.
After I binged last night -or was it tonight - I was convinced yet again that there were people coming to get me. It was more than just shadows and voices, more than just fantasies....it was real, and I was scared to my core.My bones were shaking...m heart was pounding...I thought I was going to explode. I'm glad I have you to talk to, to write this down. I tried to keep it all together, but then I gave in to the manes and became one with my insanity.
